Computer Frustrations, Cold Amarillo, TX – Warmer Tijeras, NM

Bill and I were awake and up out of bed at 6 on Wednesday, Nov. 7^th. It was 10 last night when I crawled into bed and dropped off immediately. There was some concern from one of the ladies inside the Welcome Centre about where we were parked, advising us that it could be a very noisy location. Semis tend to park here overnight as well and it could be a restless night where we are. We decided to stay put.

When it grew light enough for a walk, the sound of these birds in the
tree was deafening

We both wore ear plugs, which is unusual for Bill, and we both slept well. I didn’t move all night, not to my knowledge. Last night, I had a familiar frustration with my laptop and I’m kicking myself for not writing notes when it happened the last time. Right out of the blue I am unable to make connection to the hotspot on our phones as well as any other wifi.

Last time, Bill called Bell and got instructions in broken English how to fix it. It took a while and I ended up changing my connection name to connect. I tried that this morning and still I’m missing something that he advised. Grrr! Now, neither of us have working laptops! I was so frustrated that I bundled up against the cloudy 4C/39F !!! and went for a walk around the lot.

And from our drive today
Open Texas ranges
The Bartimus Bus was in front of us at the Cadillac Ranch
and then we caught up to it on the interstate
The semi in the middle has mud flaps from Gerry's in London, Ontario
And a Class A motor coach with a Honda Goldwing

The change in temperature in Amarillo is not welcoming but we are heading further west. Funny, that the elevation where we are going is about 3,000’ higher than here yet the forecast there looks to be 10 degrees warmer. We’ll see when we get there. We had some cereal, mine adorned with strawberries and cream and then by 8:15 we were pulling out of the lot getting back on I-40W with Bill in the lead.

We have all been to this next ROD members campground before and we know what to expect. It is at an elevation of 6300’ but the sites are really narrow. Oh well, the view is spectacular and there are things to see in the area. I like the park for the walking trails. We decided to drive to the other side of Amarillo before stopping for fuel and since we had already planned to stop at the famed Cadillac Ranch, it worked out well.

Rob and Pat's first time here at the ranch
Hey, anyone missing their shoes?

Rob and Pat had never been to see the 8 Cadillacs with their noses in the dirt and even though it was a bitter cold wind, we walked back, found a spray can of paint and proceeded to play for a while. We all wrote our names on a painted area where there were no other names and then posed for pictures. We’ve been here once on our first trip and it was fun to see it again, this time with less people.

I can't believe the vandalism on display here! Ha Ha
If you look close enough, you'll see our signatures

And there we are!
It was very chilly but we had fun!

From there we drove ‘down the road’ to the Love’s but Bill and I missed the exit and so did our followers. Fortunately, they were able to turn around easier than us but we finally found a spot to get back on track. It was easy to get in by an end pump to fuel up but there were no good spots to park and eat lunch. Rob drove across the road to the Shell and found us a prime location and we stretched our legs and had our sandwiches.

New Mexico - such a warm and fuzzy feeling
that we are back here again
We missed these views

We were on the road again by 9:15 when I started to see staghorn cholla cacti along the roadside. It was 10:10 CT when we crossed into New Mexico and stopped at a Rest Area for a piddle break (the coffee from Loves’ seemingly went right through us). I also noticed our clocks had changed to MT and we gained an hour. Yes! The mountain ranges soon came into view and I said to Bill “We’re home”. It feels so good again to see these open ranges. We love these views.

few colourful trees, a nice camper bus
Great highway and rolling hills again
Beautiful overpasses in New Mexico

By 11:40 am we were back on I-40W and 56F. I could see snow-capped mountains to the north and smiled. Not this winter did we plan on being any closer to the white stuff than this. We rose to 7,447’ above sea level before dropping back again. I saw a sign for the Memorial of Perpetual Tears and wondered what it was and how far off the highway it was.

He couldn't be any happier, he is in the sun and curled up on
Dad's sweater AND coat

Of course, I Googled it. We were 20 miles from our turn off and when I looked to the right, I saw the small white cemetery stones. It is a faux memorial for those who perished as a result of DWI. How sad but what a beautiful cemetery. Today was another one of those smooth uneventful drives, the kind we all love. Little traffic, smooth roads and beautiful weather. We arrived at Hidden Valley RV Park at 1:20 pm, got checked in and set up by 2 pm.

More views and the mountains are all around us now
steep grade after rising to 7400' and now dropping to 6300'
Our exit to the park at Zuzax

Bill went with Rob to get propane at the station on the corner. We are on sites 69 & 70 up on the hill and I do believe we have a tad more space than down lower, where we were on our first visit. I’ll have to get a picture in the morning, I forgot to do that this afternoon. I went out and sat in the sun at the back end of the Suite but the wind was cool and when Bill returned, we only stayed out for about 30 minutes before we moved inside.

Arrival at Hidden Valley Mountain Resort
Our first time in 2016, we missed the entrance
We got it this time, no problem
A pretty tree at the office

With the satellite hooked up easily, we had our usual NCIS programs to watch. To be honest, we were both too tired to do much of anything so while Bill dozed, I watched reruns rather than read my book. We drove 275 miles today, which isn’t a lot but still tiring enough. We are all happy to take some time to regroup so we are staying put for 3 nights. There are a few things in the area we want to take in and laundry is also necessary.

We could see for miles as we traveled I-40W
Even the snow-capped mountains off in the distance.

I hope we can call Bell and get my laptop back on-line tomorrow. We’ve enjoyed this day and thank you for popping in to see where we are.